Christianity

Known as The Lighted Cross Church, Excelsior Lutheran Church near Wilson, Kan., is dark, Friday, April 10, 2020. The church is not holding their normal Good Friday service during the coronavirus outbreak. (AP Photo/Orlin Wagner)

BELLE PLAINE, Kan. (AP) — The Kansas Supreme Court ruled Saturday that a Republican-dominated legislative panel exceeded its authority when it tried to overturn the Democratic governor’s executive order banning religious and funeral services of more than 10 people during the coronavirus pandemic...

A worshipper prays during the celebrations marking Easter, at the chapel of Our Lady of the Gate of Dawn, in Vilnius, Lithuania, Saturday, April 11, 2020. The church cancelled all worship services but some people came to the chapel to celebrate Easter nearby. The new coronavirus causes mild or moderate symptoms for most people, but for some, especially older adults and people with existing health problems, it can cause more severe illness or death. (AP Photo/Mindaugas Kulbis)

CHICAGO (AP) — The U.S. death toll from the coronavirus eclipsed Italy's for the highest in the world Saturday, surpassing 20,000, as Chicago and other cities across the Midwest braced for a potential surge in victims and moved to snuff out smoldering hot spots of contagion before they erupt. With...

Pope Francis presides over a solemn Easter vigil ceremony in St. Peter's Basilica empty of the faithful following Italy’s ban on gatherings to contain coronavirus contagion, at the Vatican, Saturday, April 11, 2020. The new coronavirus causes mild or moderate symptoms for most people, but for some, especially older adults and people with existing health problems, it can cause more severe illness or death. (Remo Casilli/Pool Photo via AP)

VATICAN CITY (AP) — Easter offers a message of hope in people’s “darkest hour," Pope Francis said, as he celebrated a late-night vigil Mass Saturday in St. Peter’s Basilica, with the public barred because of the COVID-19 pandemic. The pontiff in his homily likened the fears of current times to...

UNITED NATIONS (AP) — U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres appealed to religious leaders of all faiths on Saturday “to join forces to work for peace around the world and focus on our common battle to defeat COVID-19.” The U.N. chief said Christians will be celebrating Easter, Jews are marking...

Commuters wear face masks for protection against the coronavirus as they ride the M train, Friday, April 10, 2020, in New York. The new coronavirus causes mild or moderate symptoms for most people, but for some, especially older adults and people with existing health problems, it can cause more severe illness or death. (AP Photo/Mary Altaffer)

NEW YORK (AP) — The worldwide death toll from the coronavirus surged past 100,000 Friday as the epidemic in the U.S. cut a widening swath through not just New York City but the entire three-state metropolitan area of 20 million people connected by a tangle of subways, trains and buses. In the...

A church member prays during a Good Friday service at St. Ambrose Cathedral, Friday, April 10, 2020, in Des Moines, Iowa. COVID-19 causes mild or moderate symptoms for most people, but for some, especially older adults and people with existing health problems, it can cause more severe illness or death. (AP Photo/Charlie Neibergall)

JERUSALEM (AP) — On the day set aside to mark Christ’s crucifixion, most churches stood empty. Streets normally filled with emotional processions were silent. St. Peter's Square was almost deserted. And many religious sites in the Holy Land were closed. Instead, Christians around the world...

Pope Francis is flanked by Mons. Guido Marini, right, the Vatican master of liturgical ceremonies, as he leads the Via Crucis – or Way of the Cross – ceremony in St. Peter's Square empty of the faithful following Italy's ban on gatherings to contain coronavirus contagion, at the Vatican, Friday, April 10, 2020. (AP Photo/Alessandra Tarantino)

VATICAN CITY (AP) — A pair of white-coated doctors who care for coronavirus patients participated in a torch-lit Good Friday procession, watched over by Pope Francis and held in a hauntingly nearly empty St. Peter's Square instead of at Rome's Colosseum because of the safety measures aimed at...

FILE - In this Oct. 23, 2016, file photo, a New Orleans Saints helmet rests on the playing field before an NFL football game in Kansas City, Mo. An Associated Press review of public tax documents found that the Bensons' foundation has given at least $62 million to the Archdiocese of New Orleans and other Catholic causes over the past dozen years, including gifts to schools, universities, charities and individual parishes. (AP Photo/Jeff Roberson, File)

Hundreds of emails detailing the New Orleans Saints’ efforts to conduct damage control for the area's Roman Catholic archdiocese amid its clergy sexual abuse crisis should remain shielded from the public, a court official recommended Thursday. The recommendation by a court special master came...

Bishop William Joensen proceeds down the main aisle at the conclusion of Holy Thursday Mass in a near empty St. Ambrose Cathedral, Thursday, April 9, 2020, in Des Moines, Iowa. COVID-19 causes mild or moderate symptoms for most people, but for some, especially older adults and people with existing health problems, it can cause more severe illness or death. (AP Photo/Charlie Neibergall)

NEW YORK (AP) — A staggering 16.8 million Americans lost their jobs in just three weeks, a measure of how fast the coronavirus has brought world economies to their knees. Meanwhile, religious leaders worldwide Thursday urged people to celebrate Good Friday and Easter from the safety of their homes...

Pope Francis celebrates Palm Sunday Mass behind closed doors in St. Peter's Basilica, at the Vatican, Sunday, April 5, 2020, during the lockdown aimed at curbing the spread of the COVID-19 infection, caused by the novel coronavirus. (AP Photo/pool/Alberto Pizzoli)

ROME (AP) — The Vatican said Wednesday that Pope Francis has created a new commission of experts to examine whether women can be deacons, an ordained role in the Catholic Church currently reserved for men. The 10-member commission, the second of Francis' pontificate to study the fraught issue,...